Salina seeing destruction, theft of yard signs on both sides of Value Them Both question
During every election cycle, instances of political signs being stolen or vandalized happens, and with this summer's Value Them Both Amendment question placed on Kansas ballots regarding abortion, this year is no different.
Salina police Capt. Gary Hanus said it isn't uncommon for this kind of crime to happen, but he said there hasn't been a notable increase in that this year.
On Sunday, Salina police cited a woman for damaging "vote yes" signs at eight locations in the city.
"(In)this particular (instance), there happened to be a citizen that witnessed this and called it in," Hanus said.
He said the information was valuable and officers followed up, made contact and cited the woman in connection with damage to property.
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An ongoing issue in the past month
According to one Salinan, "vote yes" signs were stolen as early as June.
"We have hundreds of our signs that are being stolen out of people's yards," said Cheri Harp during the citizens forum portion of the Salina City Commission meeting.
Harp said she is part of a local group called the Granny Brigade, calling it a law-abiding group of citizens.
"We stand for the law, stand for doing things properly," Harp said. "It's really irritating when we have many people coming to us or emailing us, saying somebody stole (their) sign again."
Pastor Jesse Rowland of Faith Baptist Church said the sign on the church's property has been damaged at least twice.
"The first time was the day Roe v. Wade was overturned," Rowland said.
Rowland said that as the church was putting up a new sign at the location, near the intersection of Cloud and Norton streets, several people drove by, honking their horns in support, but there was at least one car whose passengers shouted profanities at them.
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It isn't just "vote yes" signs that are being targeted. David Norlin, a local community activist who also is interested in getting information to the public, especially when it comes to issues like this, said he knows of several "vote no" signs that have been taken as well.
Norlin, a vocal supporter of the "vote no" position, said he and others he knows who share his view about the ballot question are not as concerned about "vote no" signs getting stolen or damaged.
"We think that everybody has a right to express their opinion, even if they're wrong," Norlin said.
Norlin said the most important thing for those who share his viewpoint is engaging with people about the issue.
"We are focused on having a conversation with why anyone could possibly vote yes, when this takes away women's rights to control their own lives," Norlin said.
According to the explanatory statement on the ballot concerning the question that will be voted on, a yes vote "would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion."
Primary election information
The primary election, which includes the yes or no question regarding abortion, is Tuesday, Aug. 2. For more information about the Value Them Both Amendment question, including the full text of the question, visit the Kansas Secretary of State's elections website, https://sos.ks.gov/elections/constitutional-amendment.html.
All voters, whether affiliated with a political party or not, are able to vote on the question during the primary election.
The deadline to register for this election is 8 p.m. onJuly 12. For more information on the election in Saline County, including how to register, visit www.saline.org/Departments/Elections-Office.
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina experiencing damage, theft of political signs on abortion issue
